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Oral steroids for nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy did not significantly improve visual acuity
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Oral steroids did not significantly improve visual acuity in patients with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, but they did improve resolution of disc edema and visual evoked responses.
“Visual outcomes in cases of NAION are unaffected by use of oral steroid, though subclinical benefits such as early resolution of disc edema and better electrophysiological outcomes may be observed in patients who are treated with oral steroids,” Rohit Saxena, MD, a co-author of the study, told Healio.com/OSN.
Researchers evaluated the role of oral steroids in the treatment of nondiabetic cases of acute nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy in 38 patients; 19 received steroids, and 19 served as controls.
Both groups showed improvements in visual acuity, visual evoke response latency and resolution of disc edema at 6 months compared with baseline OCT parameters. However, there was no statistically significant difference in visual acuity between the steroid group and the control group.
The control group had a median best corrected visual acuity of 0.8 logMAR at baseline, which improved to 0.6 logMAR at 6 months. The steroid group had a median BCVA of 1 logMAR, which improved to 0.5 logMAR.
Disc edema resolved faster and visual evoked response amplitude and latency improved more in the steroid group.
“However, these subtle benefits appear to be clinically unimportant and do not justify the use of steroids in these patients,” Saxena said. – by Robert Linnehan
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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